Words for Another Day
by Nighttyger
Summary: Valentine's Day is the perfect day to confess your attraction to someone, right...? SoulSilver, high school AU. Valentine's Day oneshot.


Lyra had come to appreciate the reason why some people called February 14th "Singles Awareness Day". When she was younger, she had thought those people were just sourpusses, but it hadn't taken long after her entrance into high school to sympathize.

She supposed it had a lot to do with the fact that she had never really liked anybody before. Sure, she got crushes, but those whispered words and sidelong glances only lasted for a few days or weeks.

Silver, though? It had been almost two years.

Maybe a year and a half was a closer estimate, but it had been quite a while regardless. He was an unlikely friend in the first place, so the idea being in a relationship with him seemed strange to even Lyra, but she thought she would leave the reasoning behind those kinds of things to the psychologists.

At first, she just hadn't acknowledged it. It was Silver. No way she liked him, right? He was so infuriating, what with his deadpan observations (that were usually absolutely correct) and his habit of teasing her (that she didn't really mind).  
Then she'd let it go for a while, worrying about rejection and other things that suddenly seemed a lot less cliché when she was experiencing them firsthand. She had managed to put it to the back of her mind for some time, but as February approached, it was rather hard not to think about it.

So finally, in her junior year, she'd decided to actually do something about it.

All the conviction in the world couldn't seem to lessen the weight of the unlabeled ivory envelope in her bag, though.

She brought it out as she waited, leaning on an empty wall, for Silver to appear.  
The envelope had a letter in it. She had the feeling Silver wouldn't appreciate some lacy heart, so she'd opted for a letter. It did have a red line running parallel to its edges, though. She wouldn't have felt right putting it all on some plain piece of paper.

Suddenly, someone snatched the paper, tearing Lyra from her thoughts. She looked up to see a girl with bright blue hair flipping the envelope, apparently looking for a name. As usual, she was surrounded by a small group of smug-faced students. She seemed somewhat confused and annoyed by the lack of a name on the envelope, and Lyra took the chance to grab it back, thanking Arceus that she had decided not to put his name on it, since she planned on giving it to him in person.

The girl, a senior, shot a glare at her, then swapped it for a too-sweet smile.

"Good luck with that, kindergartener. He hardly even looks at you as-is."

Lyra's cheeks flushed red, which she hated. "I didn't even put a name on it!"

"Doesn't take a genius." Good thing, Lyra wanted to say. "He's the only one you hang out with."

"That's not true."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, with those love-doves Ethan and Kris? Doesn't leave many options, does it?"

Lyra gritted her teeth. She probably would have done something pretty stupid, but Silver chose that moment to appear and save the day like he always did.

"Hello Clair. I see you're dressed up for the occasion." Silver smirked as he walked up, hands in his pockets. "You must really want to stay single."

Outrage flickered on Clair's features for a moment before she collected herself and responded, "Says the one who dresses like a goth." Her clique seemed interested, in the way that a pack of scavengers would be.

Without missing a beat, Silver replied, "Least I don't look like a circus freak." As Clair opened her mouth, no doubt to angrily yell, he continued, with a gesture at his clothes, "Also, this is blue, not black. You must be colorblind if you can't see that, which would explain why your outfit is physically painful to look at." As the other students snickered, Silver nudged Lyra with his elbow, and she gladly took the cue to leave, trying not to look like she was running away.

As they stepped outside, Lyra pulled on her fluffy white hat.

A few steps beyond the school property, Silver asked, "What was that all about?" Lyra waved the envelope at him as an answer.  
"Nnn," was his only response. Despite it only being a single syllable, Lyra thought she could hear a disparaging tone to his answer.

"Do you not like Valentine's Day?" Lyra asked as they turned a corner. Silver only shook his head, so Lyra prompted, "Why?"

"It's all fake. If you need a special day to show your love for someone, it's fake."

Lyra looked at him, waiting for him to continue. She thought she understood what he was saying, but the things that came out of his mouth could be pretty interesting. After some time, he seemed to notice her gaze. With a small, pensive sigh, he stopped, and Lyra realized they had reached the corner of the park that they generally split up at. He started to speak, and Lyra focused her attention back on him.

"It's... I feel like... If you're only going to do stuff like that on one day, you might as well not do it at all. It doesn't mean anything." He looked awkward, as if he wanted to say more, but didn't know how, so Lyra tried to add to what he said.

"Like, if you love someone, you'll do things for them just because you love them, and not because you're supposed to?"

"Yeah. That."

They stood in silence. Lyra shifted her fluffy white coat on her body, offhandedly wondering how Silver could bear to wear only his normal jacket. She mostly thought about what he said, though, and was once again very aware of the envelope she was now fidgeting with.

_Not because you're supposed to..._

"See you on Monday?" she asked. He nodded, turned, and walked down the path that he always took, brushing against Lyra on the small sidewalk. She stood for a while longer, thinking, then looked down at the envelope in her hands with a smile.

_Another day, then._


End file.
